


catch and release

by wingedgrace



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, Nightwing (Comics)
Genre: Angst, Batfamily Angst, Batfamily Feels, Damian Wayne Feels, Dick Grayson Needs a Hug, Dick Grayson-centric, Gen, Heavy Angst, Hurt No Comfort, Suicidal Thoughts, but not enough to tag it hurt/comfort, but that's not responsible for the death don't worry, he's also more Damian's dad than Bruce ever was and you can fight me on that, well I guess there's a little comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-17
Updated: 2020-09-17
Packaged: 2021-03-08 00:48:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26506969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wingedgrace/pseuds/wingedgrace
Summary: It's always been about catching people when they fall.
Relationships: Batman & Robin - Relationship, Dick Grayson & Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson & Damian Wayne, Tim Drake & Dick Grayson
Comments: 11
Kudos: 154





	catch and release

He is eight years old. A Flying Grayson. He's an artist of the trapeze, sailing through the air and soaring in his joy, and even if he slips his parents are there to catch him. Life has its ups and downs, but there's always someone to catch him when he falls.

He is twelve years old. Robin, the Boy Wonder. Batman's sidekick. He watched his parents fall. And Bruce tucked him under his wing, when the pain of losing them felt unbearable (and he wished he'd fallen with them too), and Bruce gave him a purpose. To become a safety net for Gotham. Robin knows Batman will correct him if he stumbles, and in return, he decides then and there to be Batman's partner, not his sidekick. He can't lose another parent - to physical death, or to the darkness that seems to call to Bruce like a siren - and so he becomes the light to Bruce's shadows. To pull Batman up from the pit of his own personal demons, and in turn be loved and treasured, and together they catch as many people in Gotham as they can.

He is nineteen years old. Nightwing. Eternally reborn to start anew. He's always loved flying, but he learns to love falling, too. Not hitting the bottom - never quite reaching there - but learning the independence of continual motion. No one to catch him; he's his own hero now. Like using a grappling line, he finds a rhythm in swinging along with life's highs and lows by himself, instead of relying on a catcher for trapeze. He meets people along the way and helps them learn to fall too. The Teen Titans proving to themselves and each other, again and again, that they can defy the gravity of fate and forge their own destiny. And Nightwing is his own man, not tied down but free, and loved by his found family, and happy.

He is twenty-one years old. Nightwing has lost one brother and gained another. He failed to be the safety net that he'd always wanted to be for his family, and so he allows a strong family tie to form with the new Robin; with his youngest brother. He wasn't close enough with Jason to catch him, but he'll be damned if he allows Tim to fall. And he allows more ties to form, and soon he has a strong connection to a whole family of Bats in Gotham. He is not as free, now, and everything is different, but everything is good.

He is twenty-four years old. He's a cop, now, as well as being Nightwing. By day he masquerades as someone grounded and naive, to secretly uncover the corruption from the inside, and at night he leaps from the shadows to finally act on that knowldege. He has his own city to serve and protect, and continues to strengthen family bonds in Gotham, and lead the Titans when he can. And his responsibilities are never-ending but so is his strength of heart and friendships with allies, and he doesn't have the time anymore to look before he leaps, but he doesn't mind because he loves his work, his people; his calling.

And then, he is twenty-five years old. Batman. And all he wants to do is fall apart.

He is twenty-five years old, and he's lost a father for the second time. But he doesn't have time to fall apart, because now he has a Robin to take under his wing, and now he is the only safety net for Gotham, and for all the connections he's made over the years he knows no one is strong enough to catch him. And now he has his own pit of demons screaming _jump! you know you want to fall, you deserve to fall and join the ones you failed to catch!_ but he would never ever burden someone with his weight.

He is twenty-five years old. Dick Grayson knows how scary it is, how terrifying, to hold the safety line of someone you cannot bear to lose. To feel it rip and burn and bleed your palms, to grow callouses far too young from saving far too many. To hold close the ones you love, hands rough and hardened and damaged, and have them complain when the callouses scrape their skin.

He is twenty-six years old. He is Damian's... Batman. The boy is acidic and prickly and he's never had someone to catch him. But Dick doesn't mind when the kid tries to wound him with words. He's too hardened to burn much; thick skin from a lifetime on the ropes, unafraid of the kid's defensive anger and determined to teach him how to trust. Slowly, slowly, the Al Ghul child extends a fragile thread of hope, and before he knows it the child is pulling desperately at his heartstrings, and Dick holds him closer than anyone he's ever known before.

He is twenty-six years old. Damian is his, his precious Robin, and even though the boy now cares for him deeply he will never, ever ask him to hold his safety line. But it's okay. He finds he no longer wants to fall apart, because if he falls, then who will catch Damian Wayne? He can't pull his boy to safety if he lets the demons tug him down. So he ignores their taunts and jeers and defies gravity on his own, and he proves to ~~his son~~ that Robin can fly unfettered and free.

He is twenty-eight. Dying. Blood, warm, wet, trickles from his mouth. He can't move. Like a puppet with his strings cut. Robin, Damian, is crying. Needs to help. Needs to live. He needs to, he needs.

 _You can rest now. I love you._ His beautiful boy whispers. His Damian. His... his. _Thank you for teaching me how to fly._

Twenty-eight. He falls. Cycle broken, he smiles.

Fallen. But his son is free.


End file.
